2016 ELECTION/CAMPAIGN FINANCE/CONGRESS/LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The dramatic public testimony to Congress on Wednesday [2-27-19] morning by President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, could intensify the legal issues facing the president in the criminal and civil investigations that are swirling around him, legal experts said. Mr. Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee was a remarkable personal and political rebuke to the president from a lawyer who served Mr. Trump with fierce loyalty for more than a decade. In his prepared testimony and about five hours of grilling by lawmakers, Mr. Cohen — who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and will go to prison for his crimes — blasted the president as a ‘racist,’ a ‘con man’ and a ‘cheat.’ But legal experts said several of the specific allegations by Mr. Cohen in his opening statement could be relevant to questions about whether Mr. Trump participated in a conspiracy to affect the 2016 election, violated campaign finance laws and obstructed justice in an effort to deflect investigations.”
–Michael D. Shear, “Testimony From Cohen Could Compound Legal Issues for Trump,” The New York Times online, February 27, 2019